Pipa Teacher Chow Sok Mun

CHOW SOK MUN started her musical journey at the tender age of 6 with the piano, and consequently picked up the pipa at 13, where she was under the tutelage of Mr Pang Chin Soon. A talented musician, Sok Mun participated in the 5th in-school Malaysia Chinese Instrumental Competition (2002) and emerged as the first prize winner in the solo pipa category. In 2004, Sok Mun clinched the 2nd runner up position at the 6th Taiping Hua Lian Chinese Instrumental Competition (Solo) in Perak, Malaysia and came under the tutelage of Singapore Chinese Orchestra pipa principal, Ms Yu Jia. Under the careful guidance of Ms Yu, Sok Mun attained a grade 9 distinction in pipa performance, awarded by the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) in conjunction with the China Central Conservatory of Music (2005). In the same year, Sok Mun was also awarded the 1st runner up position as well as the outstanding award (plucked strings section) at the Chinese Instrumental Competition (Solo) in Malaysia. She then went on to become the champion (plucked strings section) at the same competition in 2009.

Under the encouragement of Ms Yu, Sok Mun eventually went on to pursue and graduated with a Diploma in Music (Performance) in 2009 from NAFA, where she was also awarded the Singapore Tuition Grant by the Singapore government. Sok Mun also joined the Singapore Youth Chinese Orchestra in 2007, as a pipa musician.

Sok Mun has abundant teaching experience and is currently an instructor at various schools, such as Sembawang Primary School, Kheng Cheng School, Outram Secondary School, East View Secondary School. Many of her private students have also gone on to attain distinctions in various instrumental grading examinations. Sok Mun is also an active performer and has played for various performances, such as for Jeff Chang’s Singapore concert. She has also attained Grade 8 ABRSM certification for piano performance, as well as music theory.